Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to address human trafficking from northern Burma.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK is leading the fight against modern slavery internationally. In Burma, DFID is providing $9 million (£7 million) to raise awareness on trafficking and support safer and more productive migration across all states.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they are making to the government of Burma to seek unrestricted access for international humanitarian aid to those who are internally displaced in the Kachin and Shan states of Burma.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK remains deeply concerned by continued reports of violence in Kachin and northern Shan States. UK aid-funded humanitarian and development assistance supports vulnerable displaced people in Kachin and northern Shan States. DFID has provided almost £19 million in humanitarian assistance to conflict-affected Kachin and northern Shan States since 2012. The UK continues to raise our concerns with both the military and the civilian Government of Burma at every opportunity.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the audit report by the Office of the Inspector General of the US Agency for International Development, Insufficient Oversight of Public International Organizations Puts U.S. Foreign Assistance Programs at Risk, published on 25 September; and what plans, if any, they have to commission a similar audit of UK aid to Syria.
Answered by Lord Bates
DFID has robust and extensive controls in place to ensure that tax payers' funds are used appropriately and effectively; that UK aid reaches those who need it and that it does not benefit extremist groups.
As with other DFID programmes, our work in Syria remains under constant review and scrutiny, both through internal and independent processes, including by the National Audit Office and Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI), which last audited DFID’s Syria humanitarian programmes in May 2018.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of current restrictions on humanitarian access to Kachin and Shan States.
Answered by Lord Bates
We are deeply concerned by continued reports of violence in Kachin and also northern Shan States, which has led to a further 8,000 people being displaced since February 2018.
We are aware of the report and consider the findings to be credible. We agree with the conclusions that access for international groups to Kachin state is needed urgently. The UK continues to push the Burmese authorities for access at all opportunities.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which restrictions on humanitarian aid to internally displaced people in Burma may amount to violations of international human rights and humanitarian law; and if so, what steps they plan to take in response.
Answered by Lord Bates
We are deeply concerned by continued reports of violence in Kachin and also northern Shan States, which has led to a further 8,000 people being displaced since February 2018.
We are aware of the report and consider the findings to be credible. We agree with the conclusions that access for international groups to Kachin state is needed urgently. The UK continues to push the Burmese authorities for access at all opportunities.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the findings in the report by Fortify Rights, "They Block Everything": Avoidable Deprivations in Humanitarian Aid to Ethnic Civilians Displaced by War in Kachin State, Myanmar, published in August.
Answered by Lord Bates
We are deeply concerned by continued reports of violence in Kachin and also northern Shan States, which has led to a further 8,000 people being displaced since February 2018.
We are aware of the report and consider the findings to be credible. We agree with the conclusions that access for international groups to Kachin state is needed urgently. The UK continues to push the Burmese authorities for access at all opportunities.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken in response to reported steps by the Burmese authorities to criminalise humanitarian aid groups working in Kachin and Shan States.
Answered by Lord Bates
We are deeply concerned by continued reports of violence in Kachin and also northern Shan States, which has led to a further 8,000 people being displaced since February 2018.
We are aware of the report and consider the findings to be credible. We agree with the conclusions that access for international groups to Kachin state is needed urgently. The UK continues to push the Burmese authorities for access at all opportunities.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what humanitarian assistance they are providing to internally displaced people in Kachin and Shan State.
Answered by Lord Bates
We are deeply concerned by continued reports of violence in Kachin and northern Shan States, which has led to a further 8,000 people being displaced since February 2018. DFID is providing humanitarian support to displaced populations. In the last financial year, DFID spent £6.1 million on humanitarian assistance for conflict affected people in Kachin and Northern Shan states. We continue to raise our concerns with both military and civilian Ministers in the Government of Burma.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide humanitarian aid to any refugees forced to return to Chin State, Myanmar, from Malaysia and other countries.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) announced on 13 June 2018 that it will begin individual assessments of Chin refugees in Malaysia and other countries to determine whether they continue to have international protection needs. The UK government does not currently assess that Chin refugees in Malaysia and other countries are at risk of forcible return to Burma and will continue to monitor the situation.